1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a control method for the image forming apparatus, and a storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operation of a printer or a multifunctional device requires consumable products that are consumed by printing or scanning of an image such as toner, a photosensitive drum unit, recording paper, and an ADF roller unit, and the like. A known method of procuring consumable products includes a technique that enables procurement of consumable products by a user by use of a network when there is an insufficient residual amount of a consumable product in a printer. Furthermore, a technique is known of autodialing to a predetermined procurement source when there is an insufficient residual amount of a consumable product.
However, the above techniques require the provision of a unit that communicates with an external unit such as a public telephone line, network and the like in a printer or multifunctional device. Furthermore, when automatic ordering is performed, the consumable product is procured contrary to the intention of the user. A technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-181841 is an example of a known method for solving the above case. The image forming apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-181841 functions as a printer, stores consumable product sales information in the form of a written entry by a sales party or manufacturer, and outputs and prints the stored consumable product sales information.
However the technique disclosed in The apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-181841 requires provision of dedicated application software in a personal computer and the like of a sales party of the image forming apparatus or in the personal computer of a manufacturer of the image forming apparatus in order to record the consumable product sales information. Furthermore, time and effort are required to use the personal computer of the sales party or manufacturer so as to connect with the image forming apparatus through a network and create a written entry and record of the consumable product sales information. In addition, during the use of the personal computer of the sales party or manufacturer to create a written entry and record of the consumable product sales information, an entry error may occur in relation to the consumable product sales information. Therefore, the user who orders the consumable product with reference to the consumable product sales information that is outputted for printing may perform an erroneous order.
The automatic printing out of consumable product sales information in response to the consumable product state results in unnecessary use of toner and paper if the consumable product sales information is not deemed desirable by the user themselves. Furthermore, although the image forming apparatus prints information related to the sales party, the outputted consumable product information may be communicated to the sales party with respect to an enquiry that should actually be directed to the manufacturer support center and the like. For example, it could be assumed that when an order is made due to an outage of toner in the image forming apparatus, the user refers to the outputted consumable product information and contacts the sales party that is the order destination for toner. In a situation other than an order for toner by a user, it may be the case that an enquiry with respect to a malfunction (for example, startup failure) of the image forming apparatus that actually should be directed to the manufacturer support center is made to the sales party. This also results in unnecessary communication costs to the user and there is a considerable burden on the sales party.